Count down day 4

I have been pretty miserable these past few days. My pain meds are my friends. I take them everywhere. I wake up hurting. I hate my back. It might even be making me a touch cranky. Everything I do makes my back hurt.

Therefore I have a plan.

If everything I do makes my back hurt, I might as well skip the things I dislike (laundry, cleaning the kitchen, etc) and do the things I like (going to the beach). I mean if I end up in the same boat either way, I might as well have fun before I end up in pain.

Today we are going to the beach. Low tide is 430 or so. We will go around 1, get there a little before 2, leave around 530 or so and have clams for dinner. Not the healthiest and definitely not on the diet (but dinner last night was a yogurt) but I am pretty limited in what I can do so I might as well enjoy myself.

But only four days to go.

Tomoroow, a/k/a count down day 3, will be errand and laundry day - chance of rain so why not. I might even go to the gym. And take my pain pills.

Monday, a/k/a count down day 2, I will work 8-2 and take my pain pills.

Tuesday, a/k/a count down day 1, I will also work 8-2. I should also get a phone call telling me what time to arrive at the hospital - currently around 830 am. No food or liquids after midnight. But I will still take my pain pills with a sip of water.

Wednesday is THE day. If all goes as scheduled, we will arrive around 830, check in, change into a lovely gown (I was told they are ugly so no one will steal them), and see my old friends - the nurses in the day clinic. (Every time I go there, they all look at me and ask me if I work at the hospital or if they know me from some place else.)

I will get an IV, take a nap due to sedation (best kind of procedure - I can sleep through it), and wake up as the newer and improved less painful back. Well there will be localized pain where all the needles go in but after it should be MUCH better.

So I will suck it up for the next four days. (I'm so good at that - ask my husband....)

Maybe next weekend I will feel better enough to go to the beach again without my bottle of pain meds.

I do have a healthy body part

Yesterday was a relatively normal day in my life. I went to Costco, went for a walk, and then got my nails done. Aren't I exciting?

Later at the salon they had a special client appreciation event where they did hair treatments, make up, had a pop up store for consignment clothes, food, awesome fruit punch (with a bottle of Absolut on the side but I did not partake).

While I was getting my nails done, they were setting up the popup store - note to the woman in a blue dress: while your dress may be vintage and pretty, it was not appropriate for setting up racks (we did see your underwear THREE TIMES) and I believe it (the dress  not the underwear) was on backwards. It was loud and ended up being fun.

Then I got my make up done. I will probably go back and buy some of it because it stayed on, was not uncomfortable, and made me look better. Or maybe I should just start wearing the make up I already own.

But then I got to the good part where they found a healthy body part. My last visit was to get a conditioning hair treatment. One woman was designated as the technician who would do the treatment but another woman figured out which level of treatment my hair needed. Both of them said 'oh her hair is wonderful, its so healthy', I was over joyed as it means I have a healthy body part. Then another woman had to feel my hair and another. They all thought I had the healthiest hair and talked about it as if I wasn't there.

The woman featuring the hair product line they were promoting, thought my hair was so wonderful as well it barely needed any treatment.

I was happy. I left with my nails done. I was wearing natural make up so I looked good. And I had the softest, healthiest hair in town. So I have a healthy body part.

Paying the price

Yesterday, I had a lot of fun (and they caught the last bomber) and today I am paying the price.

I got up and went to the gym early so I could get to my doctor appointment before playing hookey. After working out, I checked my phone and found that my doctor had cancelled. She lives in one of the towns which were in lock down. So we got a slightly earlier start.

We went to Portsmouth, NH and had popovers and breakfast. Then we did some shopping. I really like my new orange fish planter - my husband thinks its weird but he'll have to get over it. Then we went to the outlet stores and I finally got a Le Crueset pan that I have wanted for decades. Then we went to the garden center and the butcher shop.

I came home and was exhausted. My husband cooked dinner.

Today I am really tired and will take it easy all day.

Napping is so underrated

Yesterday I took an hour and a half nap. Spontaneously. I mean I lay down to read a book and fell asleep solidly. The result was I woke up this morning at 330 and had a hard time getting back to sleep. I should stayed up later.

We have visiting family this week and are running around doing the things you do with out of town guests. Yesterday we did some Revolutionary War history - we live 2 miles from the Shot Heard Round the World. They do an annual reenactment at the crowd control time of 530am on Patriots Day which is next Monday, April 15 (as opposed to Patriot Day which is September 11). Yesterday afternoon was the dress rehearsal for the battle reenactment so they did it twice.

We wanted the British advance, curse at the colonials, insist they lay down the arms, and watched them die on the Battle Green and get tended by their wives and families - twice. But it was worth it. And we did not have to be some place by 530 am.

By the time we got home, we were all a bit tired and started to feel a little snoozy. I was the only one who slept.

Today we are off to do more tourist things - maple barn for brunch and some local wineries. I hope to make it to the gym later today but after wineries I might not be up for it. I might need another nap.

We got the message

Some friends of mine are both having significant birthdays last month and next month so I wanted to have them over for brunch to celebrate. But some things are evidently just not meant to be.

The brunch was scheduled with much too-ing and fro-ing, balancing ten people's schedules and we finally settled on today at 11am. Then we had windows installed in three rooms of our house. Which took longer than expected. We planned to spend last weekend peeling wallpaper and painting.

But it snowed so we shoveled snow instead.

The entire contents of my husband's home office is in the dining room. We peeled wall paper every night this week. But since I have (a few) ailments I am not very useful in this endeavor.

By Wednesday night it was clear we would not be done by Sunday at 11. I asked if anyone could host instead of us. Only one person had ample parking for five cars since our world is full of giant snow banks and limited on street parking.

She go the flu on Friday. I changed it to a restaurant instead which had a parking lot and took reservations.

It snowed again and there is limited visibility and driving is horrible.

We decided it was not meant to be and we cancelled. We got the message. We will reschedule for a warmer/less snowy time of year.

No pain, no gain.

I end up in pain all the time these days whether I do anything or just sit around. My theory on this is if I am going to end up in pain, I might as well have fun doing so. It is January. It is Boston. It is winter. So yesterday we went to the beach.

Why not?

It was low tide.

 It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining once it stopped snowing.

This might even be part of a ship wreck from the early 1900's.

 

There was snow on the beach and some ice.

And I made a snow angel.

 

Then we went out for (very healthy) fried clams while my next Tramadol kicked in to relieve the pain. I had fun while I was in pain.

Weekend update

I went a way for the weekend and had a great time. I drove 160 miles in a pouring rain but saw some foliage as I was in Northern New Hampshire. It tired me out. I stayed up too late with my friends but was the first one to bed both nights - midnight on Friday and 10 last night.

Being the first one to bed means I missed the excitement of the missing person who was lying on the floor in the corner (and later realized they had misplaced their clothes as well). Its not what you think it was and alcohol might have been involved.

This morning we saw moose tracks and a deer trail - both in the backyard.

I also stood too much and made my back hurt which is why I am lying on ice right now. With a warm cat on my feet.

It was a nice weekend away but now its back to reality... but not until tomorrow morning.